Like many developing nations, Cuba has undergone - and continues to undergo - a
revolution in the way its society lives, works and accesses mobility. However, unlike other
developing nations, Cuba is unique in that it has faced enormous pressures for the past forty years
due to an economic blockade by its erstwhile dominant trading partner, the United States.
Furthermore, this economic pressure was exacerbated in the early 1990s with the political and
economic collapse of the Former Soviet Union, and the Eastern European Socialist countries –
which had replaced the United States as Cuba’s principal trading partners. These events have led
to a transformation in how goods and people are moved, not least because of a huge reduction in
the amount of hard currency available to pay for fuel, vehicles and spare parts. This resulted in a
number of innovative behavioural and technological outcomes.
Cuba thus provides an enhanced example of how physical, economic and social factors
influence the development of transport systems. This unusually severe situation contains lessons
for other countries seeking to develop more sustainable transport systems. In particular, the case
graphically illustrates the link between economic and transport growth. The paper will outline the
development of transport practices in Cuba thus far, look at the options available for the future and
draw conclusions on what other countries can learn from the Cuban experience.